Oude burcht en huizen aan een rivier 1887

Editor: Here we have "Old Castle and Houses on a River," a print made by Theodor Hagen in 1887. It looks like an etching on paper, and the composition almost feels like a dream – that soft focus, that brooding castle... What captures your eye in this piece? Curator: You know, it's that ethereal quality, isn’t it? That almost haunted feel. The scene looks both sturdy and fragile, as though memory itself is about to reclaim the stone and timber. I keep coming back to that castle perched atop everything, the silent guardian overseeing generations, whispering forgotten tales to the wind. It begs the question: what is left in that silent sentinel for us today? Editor: Absolutely. It's as though time itself is etched into the paper! Did this capture a specific place, do you think? Curator: Perhaps. But to me, it transcends a mere topographical study, opting to dive headfirst into a realm where the tangible melts into the intangible. Notice how the buildings seem to huddle together, offering warmth in this world... Were they seeking unity or refuge in that exact moment in time, just as Hagen, brush in hand, might have sought a retreat within the landscape he so intimately captured? I wonder if we are all seeking refuge and unity? Editor: That's a wonderful way to look at it. Thinking about art as refuge… I will ponder this image much longer now! Curator: It becomes a mirror, doesn’t it? Reflecting our own longings, our own questions back at us. Perhaps that is the quiet power of such unassuming yet profoundly felt work. Thank you for the delightful walk around this moment in time, suspended and held still!